


An Idiot’s Guide to Not Falling in Love with Your Best Friend’s Girlfriend

by brokenthings



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 20:28:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2283495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenthings/pseuds/brokenthings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people are just off limits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Luke! Hey mate, are you coming out tonight?”

I looked up from the bowl of cereal in front of me, dropping the spoon into the milk, I gave one of my best friends a death glare.

“Man it is 7:30 in the fucking morning. Why are you asking me what I’m doing tonight? I shouldn’t even be alive right now.”

Calum raised an eyebrow, while pouring milk over Fruit Loops in his own bowl. “Well that’s dramatic. So you coming? Mae is going to be there, and she wants to meet you so it would be cool if you came.”

“Why does your girlfriend want to meet me? Is she trying to get it in?”

“Not with you. You’re the only one of the guys she hasn’t met yet, besides, you need to get your ass out of the house. You and that girl weren’t even serious. It’s time to move on from... I can’t even remember her name, that’s how not serious it was.”

A smile tugged the corner of my lips upward. “Alicia, she was fantastic in bed, and I couldn’t give fewer fucks about her, because that’s all she was, I just don’t like people.”

“Well, you’re going to like them tonight. You’re coming out.”

“Does Mae have any hot friends?”

“Hm…” Calum ran his hand through his hair, “don’t know. I’ll ask.”

\----------------------

The concert I had been dragged to was some local band I’d never even heard of. They sounded OK, and I had a drink in hand, so the night wasn’t a complete failure just yet. Ashton stood beside me, talking to Michael about something while I surveyed the scene, searching for someone attractive to potentially take home. Seeing nothing, I turned my attention to the boys.

“So you guys have met Mae right? What’s she like?”

“Hot!” Michael shouts, taking a sip from the bottle in his hand and slowly allowing his sobriety to slip away.

“Really?”

“Yeah, she is,” a much more sober Ashton replies, “she’s pretty cool too. Cal didn’t do a bad job. We’ll see how long she hangs around though. I can’t completely tell yet, but she doesn’t seem like the type that would be willing to do a long distance thing.”

“He is not bringing his fucking girlfriend on tour.”

“I think he’s aware of that. Without us even saying anything he knows--”

Ashton continued speaking but I became distracted by a girl with dark blonde hair crossing the room.

Her hair fell to the middle of her back and she wore a striped, loose fitting dress that cut at mid thigh. She’s the one coming home tonight.

“Shut up, Ash. I’ve got more important people to talk to.”

Ashton followed my gaze and when his eyes landed on her he began laughing.

“Are you serious right now? You’ll never get her in a million years.”

“The fuck makes you think that?”

“MAE! GET OVER HERE!” Michael shouted, tossing his hands wildly in the air. Dark blonde and stripes came right over to us and Michael enveloped her in a huge hug.

“Hey guys!” She said cheerfully, her voice was soft and smooth. I decided I liked it. Cal probably did too, mother fuck.

She spoke briefly with the other two before coming to me.

“So you must be the famous Luke Hemmings that I’ve heard so much about but never actually met.

Why don’t you ever come out with us?”

Her eyes locked on mine was kind of unnerving, but I kept cool and shook it off.

“I’m a bit of a homebody I guess. Besides, you’re always out to see bands. I’m in a fucking band, I am literally a part of that all the time.”

“Well then, next time I guess we’ll have to hit up a bingo night so you join us out on the town.” She smirked and lightly punched me on the shoulder. “Where is my boyfriend? You guys are great, but uh, I’ve kind of got a thing for the other one.”

“We ran into his cousin and her fiancé outside, I think he’s catching up with them. They were at the bar the last time I saw them.”

“That’s probably a nightmare, I’m going to go save him, I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit.” She winked at me before saying goodbye and disappearing into the crowd.

“Michael you were not kidding. She is so hot.”

“I know! I’ve asked Cal to share so many times and he refuses. I think he loves her or some bullshit.”

The three of us shared a laugh and continued watching the band play.

“Watch yourself man,” Ash shot me a warning glance, “you don’t get this one.”

“This will be like all of Cal’s other relationships: short and forgettable.”

“I don’t know about that, something seems _different_ ” Ashton put air quotes around different,

“I think he actually does love her.”

“Well if that’s the case then I’ll stay away. I mean, she’s hot but not that hot.”

I took another swig of my drink as I watched she and Cal move in our direction. She held his hand, leading him over to us before he spun her around, picked her up and kissed her.

“Hey this is a bar! Not a romantic comedy!” I shouted in their direction. Cal continued kissing her while managing to flip me off.

My eyes moved down her body, Cal’s arms around her tightened her dress in all the right places and I found myself not being able to stop staring. Girls that were considered off limits but weren’t actually off limits were my favorite to go after. This one was absolutely untouchable and because of it, I was that much more interested. A bottle of lotion and my thoughts were the closest I’d ever get to her.

“I’d stop staring man, he’s going to notice.” Ashton said, a giant, shit eating grin lighting up his face, “that’s why you’ll never get her in a million years.”


	2. Lesson 2

"Luke? Luke? Are you OK?" Someone whispered as they shook my shoulder gently.

"I'll be OK as soon as you fuck off," I grumbled sleepily. I was incredibly hungover and in no mood to deal with anyone at the moment.

"Get your ass off the counter and up to bed to sleep off your hangover. It's 10AM and some of us want to begin our day."

A hard shove and I opened my eyes to greet those belonging to the voice I had been listening to. Instantly regretting my choice of words, I sat up and removed myself from the counter.

"I'm sorry for telling you to fuck off, I didn't realize you weren't one of the guys."

"Oh yeah? The guys have feminine voices then?"

She rounded the counter and pulled a pill bottle from the cabinet and filled a glass with water.

"Tylenol and water to help with that hangover," she stood in front of me now, handing over the items, "good morning Luke."

"Good morning Mae."

Her hair was tied in a messy bun on top her head. She wore a shirt of Calum's, sweatpants and the remnants of last night's makeup. I couldn't imagine how Cal had managed to reel this one in. She was certainly no average catch.

"Why haven't we met before? You and Cal have been together for a while right?"

"It's been eight months, and we've never met because you never around. It might have something to do with the world famous musician thing though." She winked and I felt a twitch somewhere within me. It was time to abort mission and get the hell out of there.

"Maybe. Well, thank you for the drugs, Mae. My plan is to sleep the rest of the day so I guess I'll see you when I see you."

Without giving her a chance to respond, I left the kitchen and headed for my own room. Seconds after falling into bed, my door opened and Calum appeared.

"So?"

"So."

"What do you think of Mae?"

"She's hot."

"Well yeah, obviously, but anything else? She's nice right? And funny?"

"Sure Cal, she's a dime. Get out."

"Don't call her a dime. Luke, this is important. She could be the one."

"Shut up dude. You go through women faster than Michael goes through hair colors. Go buy that ring Casanova, make sure the rock is enormous."

I pulled my pillow over my face, not wanting to listen to Cal talk about how the most attractive girl he's ever dated just happens to be 'the one.' No coincidence there. Shallow fucker.

"You're such an asshole, and to think I was going to ask you to be my best man." He punched my shoulder and laughed. "Enjoy that hangover, man."

I struggled to find sleep again. My thoughts kept drifting back to the parts of the previous night that I was still able to remember: that dress hugging Mae in all of the right places. Her large, innocent bedroom eyes and the shape of her long, toned legs. I felt bad, but couldn't manage to shake the images.

***

Afternoon sun poured into the room, blinding me the moment I opened my eyes. Grabbing my phone, I saw a slew of texts, a couple of Facebook notifications and that the time was currently 3:41 PM. I opened the notifications and saw that one was a friend request from Mae.

I accepted and then opened her profile to do a bit of creeping. Her profile photo was of her and another girl, presumably a family member because they looked similar. Her cover photo was one of her and Calum. It looked like it was taken in our backyard. His arms were wrapped around her as he placed a kiss on her cheek. Her face was twisted into a happy smile. It was unfortunate that she and Cal would never last because her smile was quite nice.

It was nearing evening and the boys (and Mae) had made the decision that we were going out to dinner. There was a small diner several blocks from our place, so we decided to walk.

"You're not going to pull some Yoko Ono bullshit on us, are you?" Michael asked Mae, causing me to laugh in amusement.

"No," she said calmly, "my plan was to get really with close with all of you and when you got filthy rich, I was just going to off everyone and take the money and run."

"Not a bad plan, except now you've told us," Ashton chimed in.

"What?" My turn to speak approaching, "that's a terrible plan. You'll be wanted for murder. It's not even worth it."

"Depends on the amount of money," she cheerfully responded and grabbed Calum's hand. The walk continued in silence and I watched her body from behind until Ashton slapped the back of my head.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I removed it to read the message, which was from Ashton.

"Be careful Lukey. I told you this one is different and I know exactly what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking her perfect ass is directly in my line of vision and because of that, I'm obligated to look."

"You're obligated not to go after your best friend's girlfriend. Don't do this dude."

"I'm literally not doing anything. I've said ten words to the girl."

"OK, fine, whatever you say man."

Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I shot him a glare. I wasn't going to let physical attraction wasn't going to ruin a relationship, a band, and a friendship.


	3. Lesson 3

A soft haze filled my vision as I basked in feeling of my buzz. The restaurant we had gone to happened to serve alcohol and we were all several shots deep by the time our food had arrived from the kitchen.

“Your eyes are so pretty, Luke. I wish my eyes were pretty,” Michael might have been even more intoxicated than I was but due to my own inebriation, it was pretty difficult for me to tell. “They’re like the ocean,” he continued, “blue.”

This comment elicited a loud round of laughter from the Ash, Cal and Mae. I had tried not to get so drunk that I couldn’t control my actions or lose my speaking filter, but Ashton kept ordering rounds and I got closer to being totally shit canned.

I didn’t know the difference between drunk Mae and sober Mae, probably because I had just met her the other day, but drunk Mae was quite a bit of fun. Rather than being clingy and hanging all over Calum, she laughed at our crudeness and made jokes with all of us. I got the feeling that there was more to her. That she didn’t end at begin at Calum Hood, but rather she had her own life, and did exciting and thrilling things that she could be proud of in her own right. I could have been totally wrong, but I strongly believed that dating Calum Hood wouldn’t be the thing Mae would be known for in this world.

“What do you do, Mae?” I asked, slamming the shot glass down on the table. “The rest of the boys may know you , but I’ve got no idea about any part of your life.”

“Calum doesn’t talk about you! He hates you!” Michael shouted and burst into maniacal laughter.

“This one’s a bit of a lightweight, eh?” Mae questioned, motioning to Michael, “we’ve only had a couple of shots and he’s pretty well gone.”

“I’m not a lightweight!” He shouted in return, picking up his most recent shot glass and licking the inside.

“You’re right, Mikey. I’m sorry, you’re a big strong man!” She cooed, and smiled as the waitress came and picked up our empty shot glasses.

“Another round?” the girl asked, “my boss has just discovered who you are and this one is on her.

She might even comp your meal. I’d take it if I were you, she’s a real fuck and it would be fantastic to see her pay up.”

Mae laughed and turned her attention to the waitress. “That bad? We’ve got you, girl. We’ll take that round, and maybe a few more.” Mae winked and the waitress smiled approvingly and disappeared.

“Back to your question, Mr. Luke. What I do is a little bit of quite a few things. I work for a web magazine and my primary job is to keep our website up and running. I write a bit of content though, when it’s necessary. I’ve also taken the reigns for our social media and graphic design as well.”

“Calum,” Ashton spoke, turning to the dark haired boy sitting next to him, “I can’t believe you’ve found someone that is intelligent and that she has actually stayed with you. You are an absolute idiot.”

Laughter filled the booth. Mae spoke more about her job and I learned a more about her life as well. Ashton was correct, she was very intelligent and it really was surprising that she had settled for Calum.

“The food!” A drunk Michael sang as plates of Mexican food were sat in front of each of us. I noted that Mae and I had ordered the same meal.

“Nice choice, the burritos are excellent here,” she said, looking across the table at me.

Even in the dimly lit restaurant, her eyes shined. Maybe it was a drunken gloss, but they were bright nonetheless.

“I love them,” I responded lightly, trying to play it cool, “best burritos in the city.”

“What about you, Luke Hemmings?” She asked, slicing a section of the burrito with her fork. “I don’t know near as much about you as I do about the other boys. What are your aspirations?”

“That is a deep question over drunken Mexican.” Calum stated, shoving a large forkful of food into his mouth.

“This. I am living the life I want to live. Making music with my best friends is what I’ve always wanted to. Life is good.”

Her smile was genuine, “I’m glad. You guys are important to a lot of people. I’m really happy you don’t take the amazing opportunities you’ve been given for granted.”

“Enough! Can we get back to shots? I’m really over this sappy shit. Luke’s goals are food and sex anyway and he’s only getting half at the moment so his life isn’t that great!” Michael’s head lunged forward and came back up at the last minute before slamming into his food.

“You are so drunk. Maybe we should take a break from those shots? Also, there is more in my life that I care about than food and sex!”

Another round of shots arrived and we took them right away. The night was becoming a blur and I seriously hoped I wouldn’t do anything I might regret.

***

“I think I threw up an entire taco, not chewed up or anything. It was whole and it was mean.” Michael held his head as he entered the living room.

I sat on the couch, texting my brother and watching some trash TV that was on.

“How are you feeling, Michael?” Mae entered the room and asked, trying to keep her voice lower than normal.

“Not well.”

“You’ll be OK. Take some headache medicine and go back to sleep for a bit. Bye guys! Have a good day!”

She disappeared out the door, leaving only the faint scent of her perfume behind. Calum came downstairs shortly after and took a seat next to me.

“Are you trying to maybe date someone seriously?”

“No. Why?”

“Mae has a friend she thinks would be perfect for you. She wants to double so it won’t be so awkward. I told her you probably wouldn’t be into but she’s insisting.”

“Is the friend hot?”

“I have no idea, never met her.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Luke, come on, it wouldn’t kill you to actually spend some time with a girl that doesn’t end in you removing her clothing.”

“Fine. If I hate her, she and Mae have to makeout in front of us for a solid ten minutes.”

A smirk formed on Calum’s lips.

“Deal.”

“I don’t think you can make that deal for her,” Michael chimed in as he made his way upstairs, “if it happens, please take a video.”

The thought of watching Mae kiss another girl was arousing to say the least. But the thought of Mae’s lips on literally any part of my body was much, much better.

“I’m planning on hating her, just so you know.”


	4. Lesson 4

“You done yet?!” Michael pounded several times on the bathroom door before wrenching the handle back and forth.

“Can you hold the fuck on?!” I shouted from the other side. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I played with my hair until it looked sort of presentable.

The stupid double date was tonight and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. The last thing I wanted to do was watch Calum tongue his hot girlfriend while I had to pretend like I was interested in her less attractive, golem-like friend. I hadn't actually seen her yet, but had a feeling.

“It’s going to be fine, don’t stress it.” Calum’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“I’m not stressing,” I left the bathroom and pushed past the two of them, “I just don’t want to do  
this.”

***

“Her name is Claire, she’s really nice.”

“Whatever, dude.”

The restaurant Calum had chosen was about a ten minute walk away from our house, so we had decided to meet the girls there. They were late, so we sat awkwardly at a candlelit dining table just staring at each other.

“Can you please be cool? You’ve had a bug up your ass for several days now. If you hate her, it’s just one night.”

“I know, yeah, sorry. I’ll give her chance.”

“She might be really great for you. She’s Mae’s best friend and look how great Mae is.”

I resisted an eye roll, of course I knew how great Mae was. Speaking of Mae, she materialized in front of the table looking like the daughter of Greek Gods. This is such bullshit. Calum sucks. Why does he get a girl this attractive?

“Hey babe! Hey Luke! How are you boys tonight?”

Her voice was as soft and smooth as the sleek black velvet dress she wore. Her hair was curled into soft ringlets and I pictured throwing the contents of the table to the ground and her to the table, messing her perfects ringlets and tearing the velvet to get to her.

“Luke, this is Claire.” Mae introduced me to the girl that Calum thought would be ‘really great for me’ and I found myself not very into it.

She had dark brown eyes and dark blonde hair, a similar color to mine, that fell pin straight to her shoulders. The dress she wore was white and floor length, accented with an almost too bright red lipstick.

“Good to meet you Luke,” her voice had a seductive edge to one, one that almost sounded like she was trying just a bit too hard.

“Nice to meet you as well,” I shot her a smile and put on my best behavior for the night.

I almost felt bad seeing the two of them standing next to each other. Claire was pretty, but she couldn’t touch Mae. It was like comparing a gold medal with a bronze. Sure, both are nice, but one is just so, so much better than the other.

***

“I’ve always thought it would be so great to be a musician. I can only imagine how it feels to have tons of people throwing themselves at you and treating you like a king.”

We had been at the restaurant for about an hour, finished our meals, had several drinks and Claire hadn’t stopped talking. From the moment she took her seat next to me, she opened her mouth to speak and never fucking shut it.

We had gone through her childhood and her love of small puppies and expensive shoes and now we were on the topic of how she would love to be catered to every single second of her life. No one, not even the other couple that happened to be with us, was able to get a word in.

What the fuck were Calum and Mae thinking? I didn’t realize they both hated me so intensely. I glared across the table at Cal and then turned my attention to his beauty queen of a girlfriend sitting next to him.

“I’m so sorry,” she mouthed and the look on her face appeared apologetic. I could think of several ways she could make it up to me.

“Hey, why don’t we get out of here? I’ve got to work in the morning and I know you do too, right Claire?”

“Ah yes, yeah I do. What a shame, I’m having such a great time!” She was so enthusiastic and I felt extreme embarrassment for her because she obviously had no idea she had pretty much ruined the evening.

“Cal, why don’t you drive Claire back to her apartment? Luke and I will walk back to your place and we’ll see you there?” Mae made a suggestion that would involve the two of us to be alone and I began to sweat.

“Sure, not a problem.” He tried his best not to show irritation but it wasn’t lost on Mae or myself.

We paid the check and exited the restaurant into the chilly summer evening. Mae gave Calum directions, kissed him goodbye and hugged Claire before they went to her car. I gave Claire a hug as well, but didn’t bother asking for her number. I wasn’t interested.

Mae and I walked a few feet apart in silence for several minutes before she spoke.

“Oh my god, Luke, I am so fucking sorry! I didn’t realize she was going to do that. She’s never that way, I swear!”

She waved her hands around frantically and I chuckled at how adorable she was. I couldn’t help but she when she pulled her curls up into a messy bun on top of her head. She caught me, but was kind enough not to say anything, probably assuming I’d dealt with enough that night.

“It’s fine, just don’t go give her my number or tell her I want to see her again. And don’t set me up with anyone else!”

“Yeah, you’re cute, you can find someone on your own I’m sure.” It was her turn to laugh, and it was the cutest thing I’d ever heard. “I’m really sorry Luke. I didn’t think she’d be so annoying. I’ll take you out to lunch or something to make up for it. I like to pride myself on being a good matchmaker but I fucked this one up royally.”

“Uh, yeah, you definitely did.”

We spent the rest of the walk just casually chatting about random stuff, something Claire was unaware of how to do, and it was nice. I felt very at ease around her, even though she was so good looking, because her personality was laidback and sarcastic and funny.

Michael and Ashton were playing video games when we got back to the house.

“What the fuck? I’m pretty sure that’s Calum’s girlfriend and you are way too tall and blonde to be Calum.”

“He took home my nightmare of a date.” Mae hit my shoulder lightly, “She was!”

“She was that bad?” Michael asked, not bothering to look away from the TV. “Was she hot?”

“Careful, Hemmings.” Mae warned.

“Eh,” I turned my attention to Mae, “don’t tell her that! Tell her I had a great time and that she’s very nice and gently break it to her that I never want to see her annoying ass again.” I winked at her and ran upstairs.

Kicking off my shoes and falling into bed, I wanted to do nothing but forget this night ever happened. Between my self-centered date and Calum’s smokin’ hot girlfriend, it was definitely a rough one.

“Luke?”

The door slowly opened and Mae came in, she had change from her dress into a pair of Calum’s sweats and a t-shirt. She sat down on the bed next to me and a kind of tension filled the room that hadn’t been there when we had walked home. She leaned down and the scent of vanilla shampoo invaded my space, not that I minded.

Her warm lips brushed my cheek and I felt a twinge in the lower part of my body but also another feeling I wasn’t sure I had ever experienced in my chest.

“Thank you for being nice to Claire and buying her meal when it was probably the last thing you wanted to spend money on. You are quite a gentleman, Luke, no matter what Cal says about you. Goodnight.”

She winked playfully and left the room. The bed shifted as she got up and with the loss of her presence, the room seemed to get a little colder. My fingers went up to my cheek and grazed the spot her lips had touched. It was random, and she certainly didn’t have to do that, but it was nice. Though I wanted too, badly, I chose not to read into it. The act seemed like something she would do. Kindness, a Mae personality trait I suppose.

The feeling in pit of my stomach I knew quit well, but the one in my chest was new and somewhat exciting. I fell asleep to the thought of vanilla shampoo, velvet dresses, and soft lips.


	5. Lesson 5

I wasn’t sure what I should do. These feelings weren’t ones that I was really familiar with and because they were so close to home. I couldn’t ask any of the guys about it. Generally, when I had a lady problem, Calum was the most helpful out of all of the boys. He went through women like underwear, but he chose to do that. When it came down to it, he knew how best to deal with relationships and all of the mess that came with them.

In this case, I obviously couldn’t go to Calum and discuss how I may or may not feel about his girlfriend that he is absolutely crazy about. I could really only think of one other person that would be able to help me understand what I was feeling and would give me sound advice on how to handle it.

I called my mother.

“Hey honey,” she answered after several rings, her voice sounding groggy, “is everything ok?”

I hadn’t thought about the time difference between England and Australia. It was barely 5AM there. Jackass move, Luke.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I forgot about the time difference. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Get your feedback or advice or whatever. Go back to sleep though, we’ll talk later.”

“Luke, talk to me.” Her voice was calming and I instantly began to feel a little better. “If you’re up this early, it must be important.”

We talked for nearly two hours and everything that had been bubbling inside my head recently was now out on the table, but on the table of someone that I could literally trust with my life. To get it out felt like removing a heavy suit of armor at the end of a war. For this reason, I felt immensely better.

On the other hand, she had confirmed for me what I was pretty sure I knew but was unable to admit to myself: my feelings for Mae definitely existed. She also confirmed for me that it was not OK for me to want to be involved with Calum’s girlfriend, because Calum was my best friend, and our friendship was much more important than whatever I felt about Mae. I already knew that, but it was nice to hear from someone else.

Ultimately, however I chose to approach the situation, but I needed to think carefully before I made a choice. The choice was obvious though. Forget Mae, Calum is my best friend. He has been there for me for years and will continue to be for many more.

Mae was an internal speed bump, and one that I needed to get over and leave behind me.

***

It had been a morning full of revelations. Now it was time for an evening of drunken debauchery. Michael and Calum had chosen to stay home, so Ash and I headed into the crisp London night by ourselves, hoping only for a good time.

We had been at a bar for about an hour, just drinking and chatting up girls and having a good time, when the last voice I wanted to hear loudly shouted “Lashton” at the back of my head. Sitting on the other side of the table, Ashton saw her first and jumped up to give her a hug. She came to me next,

I tried to act casual, but after the chat with mum, being so close to Mae felt wrong.

“Why ya so uptight, Lukey?!”

She was obviously pretty drunk. Did Calum know? Why wasn’t he here with her? Was she alone? I looked from her face to the half empty glass in her hand.

“Maybe you’re a little loose, Mae-y? How much have you had to drink?”

“Like, half a beer, I swear.” She attempted to step forward but tripped and caught herself on the table instead.

“Oh yeah? One beer, my ass.” Ash laughed at her clumsiness. “Are you alone?”

“Nah, my sister is visiting! She works in America, so I rarely get to see her! She’s on vacation for three weeks so she came home!”

“Mae, you’re literally screaming everything right now.” I tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help myself due to Ashton’s cackling.

“Does Calum know how shitfaced you are? I’m going to call him!”

“Noooooo! He will make fun of meee!”

A girl, presumably her sister, stepped up next to Mae and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Guys! Ashton! Luke! This is my sister Marie! She is visiting from America where she works!”

“You already told them. I heard you screaming it. Hi guys.”

We introduced ourselves and the girls sat down with us. We were able to have an actual conversation with Maria who was barely tipsy, while Mae was totally out of it just talking whenever she felt it appropriate. We learned that Maria was older, married with one son and had a good job working at some technology company that I didn’t remember the name of.

In addition to learning about her, she asked us about our music and Calum and we tried to our best to avoid mentioning his womanizer days, until drunken Mae ruined it and told Maria herself. She had met Cal the day before and thought he was quite nice and good for Mae.

I excused myself to go to the bathroom while the three of them continued talking. The bathrooms were in the back of the bar, which was a hole in the wall, so they weren’t as clean as I would’ve liked, but it didn’t matter because I really had to piss.

After relieving myself, I opened the heavy door and stepped into the short dimly lit hallway the lead back to the main area of the bar. Just before I made it out, I was blindsided and pushed against the wall next to the bathroom door.

“What the fuck?!”

A small hand immediately covered my mouth and a voice harshly shushed me. The hand and voice belonged to Mae.

“What are you doing?!” I pushed her hand away and tried to step past but she blocked me.

“Luke, can you just not? Ok? Can you not?”

What the fuck was she talking about? Not what? I attempted to move past her a second time when she threw her entire body against me and pressed her lips sloppily to mine. She was drunk and the kiss wasn’t good, but I couldn’t help but feel a little aroused by it. Refusing to let her get the best of me, I pushed her back.

“Again, what are you doing?!”

“You,” her voice was solemn. “You’re cute and I want you.”

“Excuse me? You’re supposed to be in love with my best friend.”

She ignored me and tried throwing herself at me again. I quickly jumped to the left and out of the small hallway to dodge her attempt at a body slam.

“You’re dating my best friend and you’re drunk as fuck. You don’t want anything to do with me. Stop acting stupid. I have to tell Calum about this shit.”

“I’m only dating Calum because of you. I didn’t realize it would take nine fucking months to even see your fucking face in real life.” She blurted out, before cupping her mouth with her hands, a look of utter shock appearing on her face.

I could relate to what she was feeling. What? I didn’t even know this girl existed before Calum started dating her. How was it because of me?

“What the fuck are you talking about? You didn’t even know me. What is going on right now? Tell me, Mae.”

It was time for another feeling I had never felt before. This was a mixture of shock and anger and something more than anger. Was she telling me that she was leading Calum on? Because of me? What?!

“It’s nothing Luke. I’m drunk and just saying dumb shit. Just ignore me, OK. I’ll see you around.”

She pushed past me quickly and went back to the table. I watched her say a quick goodbye to Ashton, grab Maria and disappear out the door. As soon as I was sure they were gone, I went back to the table and took my seat.

“What the hell just happened?” Ash questioned, looking incredibly confused. “Mae went to go get another drink and then she came back without a drink and pulled Maria out of the bar.”

I wasn’t sure whether I sure tell Ash what happened or keep it to myself. I didn’t know anything about this, but the second I decided to withhold information as important as Calum’s girlfriend attacking me, I became just as guilty as she was.

After my chat this morning, after Mae’s confession, there was really no other choice.

“She was waiting outside the bathroom for me. She fucking attacked me and kissed me man.”


End file.
